Oporto Ah, Porto, where the utterly confusing conglomeration of narrow, cobblestone roads network together, somehow, to make up this stunning city connected to (yet somehow removed from) the rest of the world. I discovered it is substantially cheaper to take several small bus/train trips from Santiago de Compostela to Oporto, meeting the same bus in Vigo, Spain that had left from Santiago de Compostela for the last leg of the journey. First impression seemed much like Basque country, but on closer examining discovered the sun is a bit hotter, the gulls are excruciatingly louder/larger/stupider, and the language is relatively different, though much of it is understandable. Also worked on toning my musculature by lugging my rucksack and always walking uphill, it seemed. LOVE the buildings in Portugal covered in Azulejos, hand-painted tiles
... read more